Own Your Power

Happy Earth Day everyone!

We should try to be kind to our environment everyday! However, this is a day to really remember that this is our ONLY HOME and we need to cherish it! I think I’ll go out in my garden today. It needs some love. 

What is Earth Day anyhow?

Earth Day, celebrated April 22, is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth‘s environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year. This date is Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

The United Nations celebrates an Earth Day each year on the March equinox, which is often March 20, a tradition which was founded by peace activist John McConnell in 1969. Read full definition here…

By Jodi Helmer

Going green doesn’t mean buying a Tesla, or even a Prius. It doesn’t mean wearing the newest designer organic jeans or installing solar panels on your home. In fact, it doesn’t mean having to buy anything at all. Need proof? Check out these cheap and easy ways to eco-fy your existence.

1. Schedule a home energy review An energy advisor will do a room-by-room evaluation of your home to figure out how much energy you’re using and offer suggestions for becoming more energy efficient. Most utility companies offer free or low-cost energy audits to their customers.

“We all know there are things we can be doing to save energy, but it can be hard to know where to start,” explains Kendall Youngblood, residential sector manager for Energy Trust of Oregon. “An energy advisor can help you establish your priorities and figure out what changes make the most sense in your home.”

2. Clean your refrigerator coils The coils hold liquid that cools the air inside the refrigerator. But it takes a lot more energy to cool the refrigerator when the coils are covered with lint and dust. Pull the refrigerator away from the wall and vacuum out all of the dust; then wipe the coils down with a damp cloth. Voila — you’ve just cut your refrigerator’s energy use by up to six percent.

3. Install a programmable thermostat A programmable thermostat is one of the easiest ways to lower energy use and reduce heating bills — and you never have to think about adjusting the temperature.

“Programming the thermostat prevents the heat from running when it’s not needed,” explains Ronnie Kweller, deputy director of communications for the Alliance to Save Energy. “Set it to lower the temperature several degrees while you’re at work and it’ll help save up to 10 percent on your heating bills throughout the season.”

Keeping the heat low while you’re away from home will also cut pollution and reduce greenhouse gases, notes Kweller. Programmable thermostats are sold at home improvement centers and hardware stores, and online at sites like Gaiam.com. Prices start at $50 for a simple unit with a timer, and most are easy to install for the average DIY-er.

4. Drink tap water You’ve heard the numbers: Each year, more than 38 billion water bottles end up in landfills, where they’ll sit for an average of 700 years before even beginning to decompose. Add that to the 1.5 million barrels of oil — enough to fuel 10,000 cars — it takes to manufacture those bottles, and maybe that’s why per gallon, bottled water costs more than twice what you pay at the pump. Recent studies from watchdog groups like Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have exposed vague sanitation rules that set no specific contamination limits on the bottled water industry. According to NRDC, about one fourth of bottled water is plain old tap water in fancy packaging, and several brand name bottled waters in NRDC studies tested positive for industrial chemicals and bacterial contaminants such as… ew… fecal coliform. If that isn’t enough to get you to carry your own reusable bottle and fill up at the tap, then we don’t know what is.

READ ON HERE….